Some day I will write a long post (or possibly detail it in my book) about my Northeast roadcruising experiment. That deserves way more attention than I can give right now. However, I did want to share this.

I cruise the Pine Barrens at night once per week on average. I look at the forecast and pick the best night that lines up with my schedule. Last night was that night. It didn't look promising, but if I struck out I would remind myself that negative data is in fact, good data.

The temperature dropped so fast I could just shake my head. I reasoned with myself and kept my mind set on the half-full glass. To make a long story short, I started cruising at dusk. The low 60's gave way to a 5 in that first digit of the temperature gauge and I said to myself, ok - just give up at 8 PM.

My friend joined me. I joked, "I hope you brought the conversation 'cause we ain't seeing shit!" But I was wrong. Shortly after dark, the glimmer of a small snake caught my headlights and my attention. SNAKE! My friend never moved so fast. It felt good to have excitement to share. My first instinct was garter. But as I walked up on it, nnnnnope - CORNSNAKE!

The temperature was 57-frigging degrees and this yearling snake still waited until the cover of dark to make his move. We only held him up for a few quick minutes and he obliged cooperatively with some nice poses. Then we set him on his way to do whatever snakey things lie ahead.

This snake was gorgeous and had pink hues like I had never seen in a corn before. Maybe it was the age of the snake as this was my first yearling ever. Either way, what a rush. And what exhilaration I felt when I cruised it and moved this straggler from the road and safely on his way to his den.

57 degrees. That beat my old record of 64. That's a huge gap, and I expect this personal record to stand, maybe forever. Here's multiple photos, as always...

And for the hodge podge... This past weekend was dreary. I'm just gonna include a few of my photos from the weekend despite the less than optimal weather just in case you didn't see them on facebook or my flickr page. :)

Eastern Gartersnake after I told him to chill out.

Killdeer while striking out on a Red-necked Phalarope

...Step into the outdoors.